Hello! It's your author here, telling you that this is indeed what the title says. I got a request to write this, and now I'm doing it. I know s8 came out a while ago, so this is a little late, but I hope you can read it and enjoy it anyway. Onward!

~Lance~

I sit at the table, listening to Hunk talk about our new show. A whole show, based on us! I should be more excited, but instead I'm sitting here, gazing blankly at the table and absentmindedly stirring my cup of...what even is this? Coffee? Tea? Hot chocolate? I don't know, but it's gone cold now. I've been sitting here, "listening" to Hunk, for a good forty-five minutes.

"-and I think they're hinting at some romance between Keith and Allura-" Hunk says. I cut him off by standing abruptly and slamming my hands down on the table.

"Keith and Allura? No! It should be Lance and Allura!" I shout.

"Ooh, a love triangle. I like where you're taking this," Hunk says.

I glare at him, feeling my previous anger at "Kallura" or whatever their stupid ship name is begin to simmer down. I sit back down gently. "No, no. It's not about that," I say sadly, looking into my cup.

"Oh, that's right. You said you were gonna ask Allura on a date. You asked her didn't you! Oh, and she said no. Oh. Oh, man. And here I am rubbing your face in it..."

I cut him off. "She didn't say no. I..." I look away from Hunk, choosing instead to look at my shoe. "Well, I never asked her,"

Hunk puts his hands on the table. "You chickened out?"

"I was going to ask her, but she's been spending, like, every day in the med bay. Maybe...maybe this just isn't the right time." I look at my hands, the table. Anywhere but Hunk.

"No, Lance. What? It's the only time. After tomorrow, we're back at it in space fighting the Galra. There is not other time, literally. You're asking her today and that is final, young man," he states firmly. I raise my eyebrows in both curiosity and mild concern for what might happen if I don't ask her.

"Well, what do you want me to do? Every time I try and get her attention she either turns me down or doesn't have time," I say, rolling my eyes. "There's no way we could somehow manage to get me to the point where I can successfully ask her out,"

"Well, you know, maybe if you asked her out like a normal person she'd say yes," Hunk chuckles.

"Wha- a normal person? I'm perfectly normal! What about my past attempts to ask her out make me weird?"

Hunk smiles hugely. "Well, you don't know your way around a decent pick-up line, for one. For two, every time you flirt with her you end up doing finger guns and winking, plus your weird tongue click thingy. So yeah, no. Perfectly normal,"

I cross my arms and sit back in my seat, grumbling "My pick-up lines are not bad,"

Hunk rolls his eyes. "They're horrible. Honestly, it should be illegal for you to even make the anymore,"

I stick out my tongue. "Just tell me the stupid plan already,"

Hunk smiles. "Okay, so-"

Of course, just as we're about to get to the part I actually care about, Iverson has to announce our stupid meeting.

Throughout Shiro's speech, I'm watching Allura. Not in a creepy, gross kind of way. I'm just...entranced by her beauty, is all. Yeah, that's it. Entranced. But also kind of sad, because we'll have so little time. Even if she says yes, we only have a few more hours left on Earth.

I'm pulled from my stupor by the sound of Keith's voice.

"I've finished my check-in with all the Garrison facilities around the globe. All defenses are up and running. Earth has everything in place to keep itself safe." He reports, not once breaking eye contact with Shiro.

"Great. And Atlas preparations?" Shiro turns to Veronica.

"Repairs to the IGF-Atlas were completed early last week and it has since passed every test protocol we've put it through," she responds. I don't think I've ever heard her sound more robotic.

Shiro nods. "Good. Any updates on the Altean pilot?" He addresses Allura next.

"Still unresponsive," Allura says, "but she could wake any day now. Perhaps if we had a little more time, we could figure out who sent her,"

Keith cuts in. "There's no way to know when or if she'll regain consciousness. We can't wait any longer. We need to get back out there and end this war before the Galra can reorganize," he says, looking at Shiro.

"Keith's right," Shiro agrees, "We'll be in constant communication with Earth. When the Altean wakes up, we'll know," he looks around the room as he finishes, catching my eye and sending an almost imperceptible nod in my direction.

"I have one more item to discuss. It's our last night on Earth, and we've got a lot of hard work ahead of us. We may not be back home for years. So I'm ordering you..."

The room is silent, like everyone in it is collectively holding their breaths in anticipation of what Shiro is about to say.

"To take some time for yourselves," Shiro says with a soft smile. "Be with the ones you love. You've earned it."

And with that, we're dismissed.

I walk out of the room, preparing myself for what I'm about to do. Hunk is waiting outside the door, mischievous smile on his face. It's a look that I usually see on Pidge, so seeing it on the relatively tame Hunk is a little unsettling.

"Ready, Loverboy?" He asks, elbowing me in the side. "C'mon, you've been putting this off for so long. Look at her, she's literally right ther. Go. Go, go go,"

I take a deep breath. "Uh-Allura!" I shout. Both she and Romelle turn towards me. Just looking at her is enough to drain all the confidence out of me.

"I-uh...Good luck with that pilot. I hope she wakes up before we leave," I mumble. Both girls smile and turn back.

I look at Hunk, scratching my neck. He looks very unamused. I open to my mouth to apologize, but he is having none of it. Before I know it, he's turned me around and shoved me forward with his foot, causing me to fall into Allura and Romelle.

"Lance? Are you okay?" Allura asks, offering me a hand up.

I smile sheepishly and stand, brushing her hand away. "Yeah, I'm fine. But, look. I have a question,"

"Ask away," Allura says sweetly.

"Uhhhhh...so I have this family dinner thing tonight, you know? And um. I was wondering if you would..."

Nope. No. Not happening. Nuh-uh. No way am I actually gonna ask her. She'll turn me down!

"Lance?" Romelle asks, waving a hand in front of my face.

"...If you would help me ask...uh...Keith. To go. With me. To. My. Family. Dinner. Yep, that's what I wanted to ask you. So, can you? I know you're busy and all, but I really need your help,"

Allura laughs. "I can see that. I mean, this was the most awkward and flustered I've ever seen you and I'm not even the person you're asking out!"

She says that last part sort of loud, catching Hunk's attention. I mouth I'll explain later over Allura's shoulder when I receive his questioning look.

"Oh! This is so exciting. Romelle, could you be a dear and watch our Altean pilot? I need to help Lance ask Keith out!"

Romelle tilts her head to the side. "Keith? Like, grumpy Keith? That Keith?"

I cover my face and nod, taking a minuscule step back. "Yep," I squeak, "that Keith,"

Allura grins and grabs my arm. "Well let's go! We don't have long!"

With that, she takes me to Hunk. "Hunk, do you have relationship advice? I know you and Shay are in a pretty good relationship, and I was wondering if you could give Lance some pointers since he's absolutely dreadful at it,"

If questions marks could be represented as a sound, I'm sure that's the sound that would come from Hunk's mouth after hearing that. "Wh-whaddaya mean?" he asks.

Allura smiles and shimmies her shoulders. "Lance here needs some help. He's asking Keith out to go to dinner with his family this evening! Isn't that wonderful?"

Hunk's expression goes from confused to visibly trying to hold back a laugh in less than a second. "Keith?" He chokes out, face red.

I nod, my face equally red but for a different reason. "Yep. Keith,"

Hunk laughs "Well, we need to find him first. We can check with Shiro to see if he knows where he went. Then Allura and I will just have to put you out there and watch, to make sure you don't chicken out. Oh, we should videotape it! We can show their children when they get older,"

"I wasn't aware that two males could make a child on this planet," Allura says, looking slightly confused but happy nonetheless.

If possible, my face gets even redder. And so does Hunk's. Luckily, we leave that subject alone and walk down the hallway in the opposite direction that Romelle went, trying to find Shiro.

We finally spot his white hair in the crowd, and Hunk and Allura all but carry me over to him via my biceps.

When we arrive, he's talking to one of the people my sister knows. I think his name's Curtis or something. If I didn't know better, I'd say Shiro looked like he was blushing just a little bit.

"Hey, Shiro," Hunk says. Shiro turns and stops short for a moment, taking the scene before him.

"Uhh...hey guys. Can I help you with anything?"

Next to me, Allura tightens her grip and smiles. "Yes, actually. Do you know where Keith went? Lance here needs to, ah, ask him something," she says with a not-so-subtle wink in my direction.

Shiro opens his mouth, closes it, and looks over his shoulder at Curtis, who shrugs. "I think he went outside to watch the sunset. May I ask what exactly this 'question' is?"

Allura giggles next to me and blurts out "Lance is going to ask him on a date!"

"Allura!" I hiss. "Not so loud! It's barely even a date," I aim the last part at Shiro.

Hunk laughs next to me. "Uh, no buddy. It's a date. You're taking him to the farewell dinner with your family. In a romantic sense,"

My mouth falls open. I can't help but feel offended because hey - I'm actually really nervous about this! I look at Shiro for help, but find only comfort in his gaze. He puts a hand on my shoulder.

"Well, I'm sure you'll find him. Just uh...be careful. Don't blow a gasket while you're talking to him,"

I groan and drop my head to my chest, prying my arms from the holds of Allura and Hunk so that I can cover my face with my hands. I can't believe this is happening! Of all the people I could have lied about wanting to ask out, why did it have to be Keith?

Allura and Hunk that Shiro for his 'help' before capturing my arms and leading me away again. They babble on and on about how lucky Keith will be to have a guy like me. Since his only family is Krolia, and he probably hasn't had a home cooked meal in forever, and wow! you guys will be such a great couple. Ugh.

When we get outside, I look up, squinting against the sun. Our lions are sitting facing the sunset, making the top of one of them the best vantage point for a sunset.

"This is so romantic!" Allura squeals. "I bet he's up on his lion. You should go up there and ask him. Oh! And then you have to have a little chat and then come back down so you can choose an outfit. Or I can help you choose one and Hunk can help Keith because I've only ever seen him in about four outfits, and three of the are different types of armor. Well, I guess two of them are armor. The Blade of Marmora and his Paladin armor. Then the uniform he's wearing now. And then his all black stuff and his weird jacket,"

Hunk laughs. "He can probably borrow some of Shiro's clothes since his shack got destroyed when Sendak invaded,"

Allura agrees with him, and then goes on the question the function of Keith's jacket. I stop listening, looking up at the very top of the Black Lion. Or, more specifically, the silhouette on top of it.

"I'm just gonna go for it," I say, "wish me luck!"

I wave to Hunk and Allura as I jog off towards the Black Lion, warming up for scaling the tallest lion we have.

"You-" I pant once I get to the top of the Lion, "are one difficult guy to find when you wanna be,"

Keith jumps and turns around, relaxing once he sees it's just me. "You startled me, Lance," he says, "why are you even up here?"

I blush, remembering suddenly why I had to find him. "Aheh. Funny story, actually. I uh...I need to ask you something,"

Keith nods his head to the spot next to him, gesturing for me to sit down. I do so gratefully, plopping myself down and letting out a sigh. I watch the sunset, appreciating the beautiful red and yellow hues. At the top, closest to the tiny strip of indigo sky that will soon overtake the peaceful sunset and cast nightfall over the Garrison, is a pretty pink-salmon color. The clouds are all painted the same, like they're mirroring it.

"So, what was your question?" Keith asks, breaking his gaze from the sky and turning his head to look at me.

I freeze, the peaceful feeling that had been brought on by the sunset suddenly fleeing my body. "Well, you see. What happened was...uh...I mean...So basically...um...Okay so you're probably gonna laugh but uh...well...heh, actually...so um. yeah."

Keith cocks his head adorably. "That made no sense, Lance. Are you feeling okay? You look a bit red,"

I wonder why...

"I was just wondering if...you...would go to my..uh. Will you- no. Would you like to go to dinner with me? My family's having one to say goodbye, and I thought I should get the courage to ask you...on...a...date?"

My voice jumps like eighty-seven octaves while I'm saying this, and I can tell my face is getting redder by the second.

Keith looks surprised. He blinks once, then glances towards his arm, away from me. "A-a date, huh?" he asks. I shift so I can see his face better, and notice that he's blushing. Not just a little, like Shiro was earlier. He's blushing a lot, and since he's paler than I am, it shows up more.

I nod. "Yep. A date," Even though my voice sounds pretty confident, there's still a little waver on the word 'date' that's pretty noticeable. Not to mention the fact the I currently look like a cherry tomato.

"With me?" Keith clarifies, peeking at me.

"With you,"

"Tonight?"

I laugh. "Yes, Keith, tonight. An official, romantic date with the both of us having dinner with my family on our last night on Earth. Do you want to do that?"

Keith's cheeks, not his whole face, turn a delightful shade of pink. "Y-yeah. I'd like that,"

I let out a teeny-tiny little oh and turn my face toward the sunset. Keith does the same, putting an arm out and resting back on it. Without really thinking about it, I place my hand over his, lacing our fingers together. I can almost feel him blush beside me, but I don't turn to look.

Mostly because I'm blushing too.

"What time did you say your dinner was again?" Keith asks. The sun is close to being completely down.

"Uh, like, seven-thirty. Why?"

Keith chuckles. "It's six -fifty right now,"

I jump up. "Quiznak," I hiss. "Look, I gotta go. Uh...seven-thirty. See you there!" I blush, shaking my head.

I scamper to the end of the lion's head, precariously sliding down to the first ledge I can see. I wave goodbye to Keith again before he disappears from view, blocked out by the metal of the Black Lion.

Once I'm finally back on the ground, Hunk and Allura are waiting for me.

"Well? How did it go?" Allura asks with a smile.

I blush and look at my shoes. "Well, um. He-he uh. He said yes,"

Allura claps. "Yay! So...what time is your dinner again?"

"Seven-thirty,"

"Oh my-Lance! We have half an hour! Come on, come on," Hunk says, taking my arm. "We need to get you home and get you dressed."

Allura smiles softly. "I'm going to go check on the Altean pilot, if you guys don't mind. Do tell me how your date goes, though, Lance. I'm proud of you," she says, turning and walking away after giving us a wave over her shoulder.

I sigh and let Hunk pull me in the direction of my family. They're waiting for me, since I told all of them that I would be bringing someone to dinner and they want to hear all the details.

"So..." Hunk starts, a teasing tone to his voice.

"Don't even start," I grumble.

"Oh, I'm gonna start. I thought you said you were asking Allura? What even happened?"

"Ugggh. I panicked, okay? And the first person I thought of was Keith, so I said I needed help asking him out on a date instead of what I originally wanted to say." I glare at the ground, kicking a rock as we walk.

Hunk stops suddenly, causing me to jerk back since he's practically dragging me. "Wait..." Hunk looks at me. "He said yes, right?"

I nod slowly. "I literally told you that,"

"So that means he wants to go with you, yeah?" I nod, not seeing where this is going.

"So he likes you?"

I gape at him, just now connecting the dots in my head. "I-yeah. I think that's what that means." I scratch the back of my neck, thinking back to his blushing face when I asked him. Back to how he'd clarified eighty-bazillion times.

Hunk tightens his grip on my arm. "You better not break his heart, Lance. There's a reason he never said anything, and it's probably because he didn't want to get hurt. so, be careful,"

"I will," I squeak out, getting flustered again. We start walking again, but my feet move in more of a shuffle.

Once we reach my family, I'm bombarded with questions. Did they say yes? Who did you even ask? Are you okay? You look constipated. Oh, god. Did they say no? Do they have any food allergies?

"Guys, guys. One at a time. Uh, yes, he said he would come. Yes, he said it in a romantic sense, that was clarified. Um...I'm fine, just excited and flustered. I'm not constipated, Veronica. You weirdo." I answer each of their questions, scratching my elbow.

"Mijo, you haven't answered the two most important questions Does he have any food allergies? And just who is this guest you're bringing?" Mama asks.

I blush more, but it's nowhere near how much I was blushing earlier, when I was trying to talk to Shiro. "Well, uh. It's. I don't know if he has any allergies. And I...I'm bringing Keith," I stammer, looking at the ground.

After a few beats of silence, I look up. My entire family is smiling down at me. Suddenly, Veronica comes over and slings an arm over my shoulders. "Wow, little Lance. A date with your captain? Didn't think you had it in you. I thought you had a crush on Allura, though,"

I laugh nervously. "No, no. Nope, I have a crush on Keith. And apparently he...likes me back,"

"Well of course he does! Who wouldn't like my little boy, hmm? I'm so proud of you, mijo," Mama squeals, squishing my cheeks. "Does he need us to take him to our house with us? Or can he take himself?"

I shrug. "Shiro can probably take him if he needs to, and he has to get ready anyway. So, we should be fine,"

Mama nods, taking my hand. She thanks Hunk for taking me to them, and then we're off.

I finally get to go back home.

~Keith~

I can't believe that just happened.

Did Lance McClain seriously just ask me out? I pinch myself to make sure this is real, hissing when it hurts. Yep, okay. This is real. I groan and flop backward. Okay, so it's real. Meaning that I also just asked for clarification about fifty times.

"Can you lemme down?" I ask Black. "I need to see if Shiro has anything I can wear to Lance's,"

Black leans her head down, placing it on the ground so I can hop off onto the ground. I pat her nose and thank her before jogging off. I must've stayed there for ten minutes, giving me a half hour to find some clothes for my...

For my date.

I grin and blush just thinking about it as I enter the living quarters for most teachers, which is where Shiro lived with Adam and where he's living now. I count the rooms as I go past, until I get to his room. I knock three times, already feeling nervous.

The door slides open, revealing Shiro. He smirks when he sees me. "I'm assuming Lance asked you?"

I blush. "Ho-how did you know about that?"

Shiro steps aside, letting me in. I walk in and the door whooshes shut behind me. "Hunk told me. He was just in here, laughing about how red Lance's face was,"

I chuckle, "Yeah, Lance was blushing a lot when he found me. I thought he was going to explode,"

Shiro ushers me over to the bedroom, taking me to the closet, which is full of sweaters and collared shirts and slacks and nice shoes. I look up at him. "Were these Adam's?"

He nods sadly. "Yeah. None of them fit me, and you were like his son. Or his little brother, or something. I think...he'd want you to have them. You meant a lot to him, whether or not you realized it,"

I turn back to the closet. "I'm sorry he died," I murmur. Shiro looks at me, I can see it from the corner of my eye.

"I...me too. He's always going to have a special place in my heart," he says with a sad smile at the floor.

"Which tie?"

"What?" Shiro looks up, bewildered.

"Which tie did he wear when you guys had your first kiss. You should keep it to remember him." I gesture to all the ties.

"Oh, um..." Shiro pulls one down, looking at it closely. "This one. I remember laughing at him because it has hearts on the back,"

"Take it," I say, pushing his hands to is chest, and with them, the tie.

"Thanks," Shiro says with a teary smile. "Now, first date outfit. Knowing Lance, he's not going to wear a full out suit for a family dinner. I say we go with nice pants, a dress shirt, a sweater, and some casual but nice shoes?"

I shrug. "Sure,"

The next twenty minutes are filled with me trying things on and Shiro either nodding or shaking his head, judging my outfit choice. Finally we decide on a pair of black pants, some of Adam's old shoes (black as well), and a red shirt.

"Now all you need is a sweater," Shiro says. He pulls out a box that looks to be overflowing with sweaters of all different colors and patterns.

"Try this one," he says, throwing one to me. It hits me in the chest, and I see that it's a charcoal grey sweater and goes to my wrists. I flip the cuffs of my sleeves over the ends, and turn arounf to get Shiro's approval.

"Definitely," he says, giving me a thumbs-up. "Make sure to get a picture with Lance. I want to see my little bro on his first date,"

"I'm not your brother,"

Shiro shrugs. "Eh. You basically are. Anyway, Lance's dinner starts at seven-thirty. And it's seven twenty-two. I'll drive you to his place, c'mon,"

After a very embarrassing car ride in one of the Garrison's few cars (Iverson had a single truck and a single car on the premises for some reason), we arrive in front of Lance's house. I give Shiro a nervous glance before climbing out and knocking on the door.

The door opens almost immediately, revealing Lance's mother.

"Come in, come in, my dear!" She says, stepping aside. "Oh, you look so handsome. Doesn't he look wonderful, Lance?"

Lance, who was walking down the stairs and watching his feet, looks up. His eyes widen, and his mouth falls open a little.

"Wow! You...you look amazing," He says, pink tinting his cheeks.

"Thanks. You look...really good too," I say, smiling a little.

"Um. Oh! Keith, this is my mom and Pop-pop. You already know Veronica-" she waves "-That's Rachel, my brother Marco, my other brother Luis, his wife Lisa, and their kids, Silvio and Nadia," Lance introduces me to each of them, pointing to them as he says their name. I wave and give what I hope is a little smile.

"We should eat," Luis declares. "C'mon, little monsters," he picks up Nadia, who squeals, and the family starts so migrate to the dining room.

Now, this is a big family. Especially since I've never been around a lot of people at once, so this is a new thing for me. They have one large table, made to seat eight people, in the center of the room. It's laden with all types of delicious smelling food. Next to it, there's a smaller table for the kids. There are nice, ceramic plates sitting on the large table. At the kids table, they all have plastic-ware and plastic plates.

Lance sits at the big table, in the middle. Veronica takes his left side, leaving me to sit between him and his mother. Everyone else fills in - Luis and his wife sitting next to Marco and Lance's father. Rachel growls as she sits at the kiddie table, glaring playfully at Lance.

The family passes the food around, but I don't know what any of it is. I look at Lance's plate helplessly, and he chuckles softly, serving my plate for me. "You aren't allergic to anything, right?" He asks.

"I'm lactose intolerant, but I'll be fine if I eat some cheese or something. I took a pill thingy before I got here,"

Lance nods, but I notice he still decreases how much cheese I'm getting. "I don't want you to get a stomachache,"

Veronica gasps next to him, drawing the attentions of the entire table. "Did Lance just use the word stomach?" She half-shouts.

Lance covers his face and groans. "Veronica pl-"

"He hasn't ever used that word! It was always 'tummy this' and 'tummy that.' What happened in space? He's all grown up now!"

Luis laughs. "Remember when he had the flu and kept whining about his tummy hurting? Lance, you may have gotten into the Garrison, but you certainly didn't get the brains of the family,"

"Hey!"

"No, he's right. Remember when he thought that cow manure was mud, so he played with it and made a mud pie out of it? Then he ate it and threw up because it's poop," Rachel says from the table behind us.

"Or the time when we were kids and Veronica mixed dirt with water and told Lance it was chocolate milk," Marco adds.

Laughter all round the table. Lance sits next to me, arms crossed. Of course, I laugh too. Because - hey, this guy ate poop!

"Oh, yeah! I still can't believe he fell for it," Veronica chortles.

That piques my interest. "What did he do?" I ask.

"He told on me, of course. Then Pop-pop gave him ice cream and I got none," She replies.

"Yeah, Lance was always the baby of the family. It only took you coming to dinner to graduate him to the adult table," Marco, smiling, says. I turn and see Rachel squinting at Lance resentfully.

"Speaking of dates-"

"No." Lance states firmly, cutting Veronica off.

"But-"

"But nothing. I'm not helping you land a date with Hunk, or Pidge, or Shiro, or anyone else. You're spilling my secrets." Lance pouts at her. Frankly, it's adorable.

The siblings continue bickering, and Lance's mother touches my arm softly. Nodding toward Lance, she says "Lance never brings anyone home. You must really mean something to him," she says.

I take a bite of food to hide my blush and the smile that phrase paints on my face. "That's weird. I always thought he was really popular with the ladies...and I guess everyone else,"

"Oh, he gets that from his father. It's all talk. But if you can get past that, you'll find a good boy with a big heart,"

Veronica stands, drawing everyone's attention once again. "A toast...to family. Though we may be apart after tomorrow, we'll always remain close at heart. Family is forever,"

"To family!" The whole room says in unison.

Immediately after saying that, my face falls. I don't have a family, beside my mom. And even then, that's not exactly the 'family' they're talking about here. I only met my mom a few years ago. Seems like more for me than it really is, but either way, she doesn't have these stories for me. We don't have the memories that the McClain family has. I doubt that Krolia even remembers if I ever made a mess in the tub, or if I ate dangerous things out of curiosity. Who can blame her? She left because she had to protect me and my father. She left out of love. I only wish we'd gotten to know each other a bit better.

Lance puts a hand on mine. "You okay?" He asks. I can see what his mother was talking about when she said that he has a big heart. I can see in his eyes that he genuinely cares.

I nod, averting my eyes. "It's just...I dunno. Aren't you going to miss them?"

Lance smiles at me. "Of course I am. But I tell myself that that's what I'm fighting for. I want to be able to see them all again,"

"Oh," I say quietly. Lance goes back to eating, scarfing down food at lightning speed. I notice he doesn't let go of my hand as he does so.

I blush and smile, picking up my fork and taking a bite of some more food. It's really good, I can see why Lance is inhaling it by the plate.

"You really like him, don't you?" Marco asks me. I glance at Lance, and see that he's deep in conversation with Veronica.

"Yeah," I say, biting the inside of my cheek. "I have for a long time,"

Marco chuckles. "I don't know why it took so long for him to ask you out. He's normally much more...up front about his crushes,"

I roll my eyes. "Yeah, I know. If I had a penny for each time he flirted with some alien I'd have enough money to hire somebody to replace me and go into space and fight for me," I laugh.

Lance lets go of my hand so he can make large gestures with his arms while he tells his story. I immediately miss the warmth of his palm on mine. I rest my head on my hand, leaning on my elbow and just...watch Lance tell his story. It's like, he's not just telling them what happened, he's painting a picture and making the whole room watch his performance.

"Lance," Luis says, "why don't you start bringing out dessert? I'll show you where it is." He grabs some of the dishes off the table, and his and his wife's plates. Lance takes mine and his, smiling at me as he leaves.

They walk out a few seconds later, taking the food and clearing off the table. Then, they enter with a large cake that says Farewell Lance and Veronica! and, at the bottom corner, I see someone has squeezed on the words + Keith in red icing.

"Since we don't know how long it's going to be before we see you again, here. A cake for you. Keith, sorry about how squished your name is. We didn't know the name of who he was bringing until thirty minutes before we wanted to start. You can have that piece, if you want," Lance's mother says with a smile. She begins cutting the cake into squares, giving each person a piece.

Lance gets a piece that has a large blue L on it, L for Lance. As promised, I get the piece with my name on it. Lance looks at me, deep in thought, before leaning over and whispering to me.

"After this, can I show you something?"

I nod, blushing at our proximity. I take a bite of the cake, smiling once I taste it. It's the best cake I've ever had! I quickly finish my piece, but somehow Lance has already finished four whole pieces in the time it took me to finish that one.

Lance stands and takes my hand, kissing his mother on the cheek and telling her we'll be back soon. He leads me through the living room, out the back door, and takes me down a small trail. He keeps our hands connected, looking around sadly.

"It's all ruined," he says.

"This place used to be so beautiful. The big tree up ahead was where I broke my arm falling out of it. I used to run through these fields with my siblings all the time and-" he stops, something catching his eyes. He pulls me along with him, excitement rekindling in his eyes.

"This...this is where I first discovered I wanted to see the stars," Lance says, coming to a gradual stop in front of a pond. It's the most aesthetically appealing pond I've ever seen, with lily pads and a deep, beautiful black-blue color. Lance walks me over to a small dock on the side of it. "We used to take a little boat onto the water. We'd play pirates and all sorts of stuff. I remember one night Marco took me out here and sat me down on the dock and we just...watched that stars,"

Lance sits on the edge of the dock, scooting back so he's lying down. I sit next to him, lying on my side so I can talk to him. "So..."

Lance smiles at the sky. "So,"

I laugh, feeling a pleasant fluttering in my stomach. "Your family is great. They're hilarious,"

"They're embarrassing is what they are. I'm not a baby!"

"Whatever you say, Mr. I-Eat-Cow-Poop," I snort.

I can practically hear the scowl on Lance's face. "I didn't know! I asked Marco! He said it was mud, too!"

"Oh, Lance," I sigh. It comes out a lot more lovey-dovey that I mean for it to.

Lance flips onto his side, meeting my gaze. "Oh, Keith," he mocks, smiling.

"I'm so glad I asked you and not Allura," Lance sighs.

"Wh-what?"

I knew it. I knew it was too good to be true. Lance only asked me because he wanted to get closer to Allura, however that's working out for him.

"God, that came out wrong. What I mean is, I was originally gonna ask Allura, but I just sort of blurted out that I needed help asking you out. So she and Hunk tried getting my psyched up and confident and I just...wasn't. And I did ask you, obviously. And even when I could have easily told you it would be as friends, I made sure you knew it was romantically. But the thing is, I don't want this to have happened with anyone else but you. I...I dunno. I thought I was wrong, but I'm not. See, Keith, I actually really like you. Like, like like you, and it scared me at first. But now, I'm not afraid to tell you this: I think I'm falling for you."

I take a moment to register what he just said. "So...this was a mistake? But now it's not? I'm confused, do you have a crush on me or not?"

"Oh, I definitely do," Lance says. He sits up, and I follow, wondering if we're about to go back to the house.

"I wouldn't trade this for anything. This talk, the dinner, even our dumb fights. Keith, I'm falling for you," he says, coming a little closer.

"Well, I beat you there," I say. At his confused look, I elaborate. "I've already fallen for you a million times,"

Our faces are centimeters away. Lance glances down to my lips, then back up to my eyes. God, he has such pretty blue eyes. Like the sun filtering through a pond. I just want to get lost in them forever. I search his face for any hint of a joke, for a sign that he doesn't want to do this. I take his hand, the one he isn't propping himself up on, and lean so we have only a hairs width between our lips. I look into his eyes for permission. Even though I get it, I stay still.

But Lance doesn't. He slowly closes the gap between us, closing his eyes. I relish in the feeling of his lips on mine before responding.

It's a sweet kiss, soft and slow and gentle and perfect. It's how my first kiss with someone should be. Lance pulls away after a moment, cupping my cheek in his hand. I open my eyes slowly, but I ca't really do much other than nuzzle into his hand.

"We need to be getting back to the house," Lance says gently, sounding disappointed, "Veronica has to drive us back to the Garrison,"

I nod, but neither of us make any movement to get up or move at all. "Can she take a picture of us before we go?" I ask, biting my lip once I realize how stupid it sounds.

Lance chuckles. "Yeah, but we have to get up first." He stands with a grunt, putting out his hands to help me up. "C'mon, we should go,"

I take his hands and he pulls me up, only letting go of one as we walk back up the trail to his house. His other hand is in his pocket, and he's whistling a soft tune. Right now, in the pale moonlight in front of his house, Lance is the prettiest I've ever seen him. He's just so...perfect.

"Where did you guys even go?" Luis asks when we get back inside. "I thought you were just going to take a walk in the meadow, except-oh. You took him to the pond, didn't you?"

Lance blushes and nods, looking at me shyly. "We just talked for a little bit, you know? Last night on Earth and all that. Got some stuff off our chests,"

I nod in agreement. "Yeah,"

"Well I'm glad my little bro is with such a cool guy," Marco says, "I hope that you guys stay safe on your journey,"

Lance sniffles next to me, letting go of my hand so he can hug his brother. "I'm gonna miss you," he whisper-cries into Marco's ear.

"Keith, promise to look after him? He's my favorite uncle," Nadia says, pulling on my sleeve. I kneel down so we're seeing eye to eye.

"I promise," I say with a small smile.

Nadia shakes her head a sticks up a tiny pinkie. "You gotta pinkie swear so I know you're telling the truth," she says.

I wrap my pinkie around hers, smiling as she vigorously shakes it. The small girl nods seriously before walking away.

"Keith," Lance says, "do you want to get that picture now?"

"Sure," I reply, standing up. Lance's mother takes our photo, both of us smiling with our arms around each other.

"Good luck in space," she says as she gives us the Polaroid. I thank her politely, but Lance throws himself into her arms and cries.

"I don't wanna leave you, Mama!" He sobs into her shoulder. She hugs him, whispering something into his ear. He nods, sniffling, and kisses her on the cheek. "I love you,"

"I love you too, Lance,"

He walks back to me, slouching more than he was before. I take his chin and, without really thinking, press my lips to his. Lance's family lets out whoops and cheers.

"Get some Keith!" I hear Veronica shout.

I pull away with a smile, gazing into his eyes. He smiles at me, running a hand through my hair.

"I hate to break this up, but we have to go. Lance, c'mon," Veronica pulls him away, sending a wink in my direction.

Lance takes my wrist as we get dragged away, and I wave goodbye to his family. Loud whistles and shouts follow us, some addressing the kiss, some addressing our mission. I blush when I feel Lance's arm around my shoulders, leaning into his touch.

Tonight was a good night.

Once we've arrived back at the Garrison, we're greeted with Allura's solemn face.

"The Altean pilot has died," she says, carefully keeping all emotion out of her voice.

"Allura," Lance says softly, putting a hand on her shoulder to comfort her.

"I'm sorry to hear that," I tell her, "did she say anything before she passed?"

Allura nods. "I'll tell you once inside. I think we may have just found the last person we need to fight,"

Relief washes over me. Even though I love being on Voltron, I miss just messing around and being reckless without having to worry about the state of the universe. Allura leads us to a room that contains the Paladins, Shiro, and the rest of the crew that's going to be aboard the Atlas.

"Sit," Allura instructs gently, turning to address the room as a whole. "As many of you know, we discovered an Altean pilot being used as an energy source a few months ago. However, what some of you may not know is that she perished a few hours ago. After a very long wait, we were able to get some vital information out of her seconds before she died. As it turns out, she was working for Honerva.

"Now, if you don't know who Honerva is, she used to be Zarkon's wife. After they were hit with quintessence, which turned both of them into the evil maniacs we had to fight, she forgot about her marriage, and even had a child without knowing who the father was. I'm going to do my best to locate her using her quintessence signature, but I fear that she's done something horrible. Lotor and Zarkon have perished, and now it's time we reunited this family." Allura takes a breath.

"We will return triumphant," Allura says, "keeping the universe safe from Honerva forever, and finally being able to rest. Who's with me?"

There's not a single person who isn't.

I am. So. Sorry. I didn't know that when I posted this chapter, the entire thing ended up being written in code. Thank you everyone who pointed it out, and I'm sorry about that. When I copy and pasted it, it didn't show up like that. I hope you enjoyed this, and I will make sure to be more careful in the future! Bye!